By now, everyone has probably heard about Google’s privacy policy update that is to go into effect March 1, 2012.
The long and short of the change is that Google may combine information collected from one service and share it with other Google products. (Gmail, Youtube, Search, Google+, etc.) Google wants to treat you as a single user across all their products.
In Google’s own words:
‘We’re getting rid of over 60 different privacy policies across Google and replacing them with one that’s a lot shorter and easier to read. Our new policy covers multiple products and features, reflecting our desire to create one beautifully simple and intuitive experience across Google.’
You can get an overview and read more information about the new policies and terms of services here:
http://www.google.com/policies/
http://www.google.com/policies/faq/
http://www.google.com/policies/terms/
Some privacy advocates are none too pleased with the change, since Google will now be sharing data among its many products.
If you are concerned about this new development, then it might not be a bad idea to delete the web history Google has stored on you before the consolidation takes place.
The process is very simple:
- Login to your Google Account
- Navigate to: ‘http://google.com/history
- Click the ‘Remove all Web History’ button. Completing this action will also stop your web history from being recorded from this point on.
To learn how to clear your browser history and Google Toolbar search history, check out the Google article below:
http://support.google.com/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=465
Click here to learn how to remove your YouTube Viewing and Search history.
For your convenience, we have listed the following articles covering the new privacy policy update and how it impacts your privacy and/or user experience:
Google’s Privacy Policy: A Wakeup Call, But That’s It
McKenna questions Google’s new privacy policy
6 things you need to know about Google’s new privacy policy
Canada Raises Concern over Google’s New Privacy Policy
Google’s new privacy policy: Washington’s misguided interrogation
Google’s new privacy policy complicates protecting personal data
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